In 2017, 62% of divorces were petitioned by the wife.
Photograph: Image Source/Getty

The number of heterosexual couples getting divorced in England and Wales is at its lowest since 1973.

There were 101,669 divorces of opposite-sex couples in England and Wales in 2017, a decrease of 4.9% from 2016, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. There were 338 divorces of same-sex couples in 2017, a threefold increase from 2016. Almost three-quarters (74%) of these divorces were among female couples.

In contrast, divorce rates in 2017 increased for men aged 45 years and over and for women aged 50 years and over, compared with 2015.

The number of divorces in 2017 was 34% lower than the most recent peak in the divorce numbers in 2003. The ONS notes the decrease is consistent with a decline in the number of marriages over the same period.

This steady decline in marriages could be down to the increasing number of couples choosing to cohabit rather than enter into marriage, the ONS said.

Nicola Haines, of the ONS, said: “Divorce rates for opposite-sex couples in England and Wales are at their lowest level since 1973, which is around 40% lower than their peak in 1993. However, among older people rates are actually higher in 2017 than in 1993 – perhaps due to the fact we have an increasingly ageing population and people are getting married later in life.

“The number of divorces among same-sex couples more than trebled between 2016 and 2017 – although this is not surprising since marriages of same-sex couples have only been possible in England and Wales since March 2014.”

The ONS notes there has been a gradual increase in the median duration of marriages that end in divorce since 2009, when it was 11.4 years. It added that “age at marriage is considered to be closely linked to the risk of divorce with those marrying in their teens and early twenties being at greater risk”.

In 2017, 62% of divorces were petitioned by the wife. Between 1980 and 2000, that figure has consistently been at or above 70%. The most common reason for divorce in 2017 for heterosexual and same-sex couples was unreasonable behaviour. It was also the most common reason for the wives, with 52% petitioning for divorce on these grounds, compared with 37% of all husbands.

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Aidan Jones, the chief executive at the relationship support charity Relate, said: “Strong relationships are fundamental to our mental health and wellbeing so it’s positive to see the trend of falling divorce rates is continuing, despite a slight peak in 2016. It’s interesting to see how older people are bucking the trend and this does reflect what we see in the counselling room where we hear from many couples in their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond who have grown apart.

“Often it’s when the children leave home that it becomes clear things aren’t working. With life expectancy increasing, many take the decision to end the relationship and find love again in later life, rather than spending the rest of their lives unhappy.”

Jo Edwards, who chairs Resolution’s family law group, said: “Advocates of no-fault divorce will rightly point to one aspect of today’s statistics, which show that unreasonable behaviour was the most common reason for opposite-sex couples divorcing, with 52% of wives and 37% of husbands petitioning on these grounds, and also the most common reason for same-sex couples divorcing, accounting for 83% of divorces among women and 73% among men – as evidence of the need to move quickly to introduce no-fault divorce, as set out in a consultation paper published by the Ministry of Justice earlier this month.

“In her research published last autumn, Prof Liz Trinder highlighted that in England and Wales blame is apportioned in divorce around 10 times more than in any of the other countries with which she undertook a comparison. As a family lawyer and mediator, I see on a daily basis the acrimony this causes and the resulting detrimental impact on any children.”